Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to instruments and methods for the removal of a gallbladder. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to a laparoscopic instrument for use in the removal of a gallbladder.
Background of Related Art
Laparoscopic cholecystectomy is the most commonly performed minimally invasive surgical procedure with over 500,000 surgeries performed annually in the U.S. alone. During a laparoscopic cholecystectomy procedure, after detachment, the gallbladder is removed through a trocar incision. To prevent bile from leaking from the gallbladder, the detached gallbladder is typically placed in a retrieval bag. When retrieval bags are unavailable, surgical teams may create a substitute using a latex glove. If a surgeon is unsuccessful at removing the gallbladder from the incision laparoscopically, the surgeon may often have to enlarge the incision with a scalpel, extract the bile out of the gallbladder using a syringe, and/or use clamps to pull the gallbladder out piece by piece. Gallbladders that are full of bile and/or stones and/or are too large to be easily pulled out through a laparoscopic incision make require as much as an additional 5-30 minutes of the surgical team's time. Extra time may also be required to clean up any spills. Caution is usually taken to prevent rupturing of the gallbladder upon extraction because bile and gallstones are toxic to internal tissue if not properly cleaned.
Therefore, during laparoscopic cholecystectomies there is a need for a time-efficient method that allows surgeons to remove the detached gallbladder through an incision in the abdominal wall created for a trocar without spilling any bile and/or stones from the gallbladder.